In exciting news, Grayscale investments has released its 2018 report which shows an increase in Bitcoin investment despite the extended bear market. The New York-based virtual currency asset management firm also said it recorded its largest annual inflow since inception even with a slightly under-performing fourth quarter of 2018.

The report showed that Bitcoin and cryptocurrency investments dominated the firm’s revenue inflows in Q4 2018. It is important to note that despite its clear dominance, the actual investment figures from the BTC and crypt arena shrunk by more than 60 percent on a quarter-by-quarter basis. Grayscale, a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group (DCG) declared a total investment sum of $359.5 million for all of 2018. According to the document, this figure represents a 400 percent increase from 2017’s numbers and an almost 300 percent growth for all previous four years.

“It was by no means our best quarter, but it’s certainly important to recognize that despite the price declines investors were actively engaged.”

One of the other interesting and exciting parts of this report showed that institutional investors lead the way, contributing 66%. Retirement accounts and accredited individuals accounted for 40 percent and 14 percent respectively. This shows that Bitcoin is king and that cryptocurrencies in general are gaining acceptance from traditional investors, seeing this as a store of wealth. This is an important step forward, with your traditional investor being a key for mainstream adoption, acceptance, government regulation and inclusion as a preferred asset class and store of wealth.

This begins to show us that institutional interest in BTC is beyond the novelty stage and is developing a trend with an upswing. Earlier in the week, Morgan Creek Digital announced that two U.S. public pension funds had invested in its $40 million cryptocurrency fund.

The two pension funds, based in Fairfax County, Virginia are the first in the U.S. to invest in a cryptocurrency fund. According to Morgan Creek Digital partner, Anthony Pompliano, an insurance company as well as a university endowment fund are also invested in the $40 million investment vehicle.

What we see here is now the beginning of a move into the mainstream. With major technology firms, businesses, governments and investment firms now making moves to get into the crypto scene, this is the shift, the one that may lead away from traditional forms of currency and into cryptocurrency. This is an exciting time, one that heralds a move that we may not see again in our lifetimes.